The Korean Flag

The Korean national flag is called TaeGukKi. The meaning of Korean National Flag is very philosophical. The origin comes from the old oriental philosophy called the theory of Um-Yang, in Chinese pronunciation Yin-Yang. Yin means dark and cold, while Yang means bright and hot. This represents the dualism of the cosmos. The harmonious state of the movement of yin and yang is called TaeGuk which is also the name of the Korean national flag, TaeGuk-Ki.

Ki means a flag.
The upper half circle, red, of TaeGuk means yang.
The lower half circle, blue, means Eum.
They stand for the state of harmony of yin and yang.The white background of the flag symbolizes the purity of the Korean people and their peace-loving spirit. The flag as a whole is symbolic of the ideal of the Korean people to develop forever together with the universe.

The symbols, called Kwe, in the four corners, mean the principle of movement and harmony. Basically, each Kwe consists of three bars that can be either broken or unbroken bars. A broken bar stands for yin while an unbroken bar stands for Um. Here are the four Kwe, their names, and what they symbolize.